Notice of Privacy Practices

About this notice

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Regional Essential Pharmacy, a DBA of F & F Helping Hands, INC., is required by law to protect the privacy of your protected health information (PHI). PHI is information that identifies you and relates to your past, present or future health, the care you receive, or payment for that care, such as your prescription records.

How we use and disclose your information

We may use and disclose your PHI without your written authorization for the following purposes:

• Treatment: to fill your prescriptions, counsel you about your medicines, check for interactions, and communicate with your doctors and other providers involved in your care
• Payment: to bill and receive payment from you, your insurance plan or another payer, including checking eligibility and requesting prior authorization
• Health care operations: to run our pharmacy, such as quality review, staff training, audits, licensing and business planning

We may also contact you with refill reminders, pickup or delivery notices, and information about treatment options or health related services we offer.

Other permitted uses and disclosures

The law also allows or requires us to use or share your PHI in certain situations, often with conditions:

• To family members, friends or caregivers involved in your care or payment, unless you object, such as allowing someone to pick up your prescription
• When required by federal, state or local law
• For public health activities, such as reporting adverse reactions to medicines, product recalls or preventing disease
• For health oversight activities, such as audits and inspections by government agencies and the California State Board of Pharmacy
• In response to a court order, subpoena or other lawful process
• To law enforcement for certain purposes allowed by law
• To avoid a serious threat to health or safety
• To report suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence as required by law
• To coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors
• For organ and tissue donation
• For workers' compensation as allowed by law
• For specialized government functions, such as military and national security
• To business associates who perform services for us and agree to protect your information

Uses that require your written authorization

Other uses and disclosures, including most uses for marketing, any sale of PHI, and most sharing of psychotherapy notes, will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time, except to the extent we already acted on it.

Your rights

You have the following rights regarding your PHI. To use any of them, contact us using the information at the end of this notice.

• Right to access: you may ask to see or get a copy of your pharmacy records. We may charge a reasonable, cost based fee
• Right to amend: you may ask us to correct information you believe is wrong or incomplete. We may deny the request in some cases and will explain why in writing
• Right to an accounting of disclosures: you may ask for a list of certain times we shared your PHI in the past six years, other than for treatment, payment, operations and certain other purposes
• Right to request restrictions: you may ask us to limit how we use or share your PHI. We are not required to agree, except that we must agree not to share information with your health plan about an item you paid for in full out of pocket, if you ask
• Right to request confidential communications: you may ask us to contact you in a certain way or at a certain place, such as a different phone number. We will agree to reasonable requests
• Right to a paper copy: you may ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically
• Right to be notified of a breach: we will notify you if a breach affects your unsecured PHI
• Right to choose someone to act for you: a person with legal authority, such as a health care power of attorney, may exercise your rights

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us by contacting our Privacy Officer below. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, at 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201, by calling 1-877-696-6775, or online at hhs.gov/ocr/complaints.

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Our duties

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your PHI
• We must give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices
• We must follow the terms of the notice currently in effect
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information

We reserve the right to change this notice. Changes will apply to all PHI we hold. The current notice will be available at the pharmacy and on our website, and a copy is available on request.

Effective date

This notice is effective as of the date shown at the top of this page.

Privacy Officer contact

Privacy Officer: Pharmacist in Charge, Regional Essential Pharmacy, a DBA of F & F Helping Hands, INC.

326 E Avenue I, Lancaster, CA 93535. Phone 661.941.4402. Fax 661.941.4407.